Faisel Gergab, former CEO of the Libyan Post Telecommunications & Information Technology Company (LPTIC) was arrested yesterday in Tripoli.
According to multiple press reports, Gergab was taken into custody by members of the so-called Special Deterrence Force (Rada’a), a government-affiliated armed group led by Abdul Rauf Kara.
Italian news agency Nova reported that Gergab is accused of having forcibly entered the headquarters of LPTIC to resume his role as chairman after a recent judicial ruling in his favor to restore him as CEO.
Last October, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh issued an executive order to remove Gergab from LPTIC’s leadership, a move that was widely criticized by Libyan politicians as a manoeuvre to consolidate power.
Dbeibeh appointed Mohamed Ibrahim ben Ayed, former CEO of the Libyana Mobile Phone Company, as Gergab’s replacement.
The former CEO of LPTIC then filed an appeal before the administrative justice for alleged irregularities in the procedure for renewing the board of directors.
Founded in 2005, LPTIC is a state-owned company with a reported net asset value of 17 billion Libyan Dinars ($3 billion). It is the second largest company in Libya after the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Gergab had served as the company’s board chairman since 2013.